Private property

Several years back, I was hunting some BLM land when I came upon a range bull stuck in a bog. At first, I thought the bull was dead. I took a couple of pictures of him and when I moved closer he thrashed around the best he could.

At first I decided to flag a trail down to the road and find out who’s bull it might be and then I decided to try and get the bull out by myself. I got close enough to be able to piss him off by grabbing his nose. After about fifteen minutes he had finally moved enough that he was only buried to his chest instead of his back. He was now whipping his head enough that I couldn’t get close to him. So I used a branch to keep poking him in the nose until he finally worked his way out of the muck. He was so exhausted he just stood there on the dry ground and the dogs and I left him and headed down the hill flagging our way to a major trail.

We went into town and found out who the rancher was that was running his cows in the area, and when we located him I told him the story. I gave him my number so if he had a hard time finding the animal he could call me for help. The next day I received a phone call from Monte, thanking me and telling me how much those bulls cost. He felt the bull would definitely died had I not come upon it. He asked if there was anyway he could repay me and jokingly I said, ” just let me know if you ever see that mother load of chukars that I can get to”. He then offered to let me hunt his property (about 4000 acres) which butted up to the BLM land. I took him up on it and we have been friends ever since.

Another time, my grandson Conner and I were shed horn hunting up by my house. We came upon a spot where the elk had tore out a section of fence separating the public and private property. There’s always some extra fencing hanging on posts, so we found some and repaired the fence the best we could. From there, we took a short cut across the private property to get back to the truck. Little did we know that the land owner, who I knew well, was watching us. He met us at the truck and was surprised to see how much junk we had accumulated in our packs along with the sheds. He thanked us for fixing the fence and said we were more than welcome to hunt his property whenever we wanted but just let him know before we went. I’ve never hunted it because it’s not chukar country but it’s nice to know we could go chase the quail if I wanted.

Just a couple of stories that hopefully other chukar hunters can relate to. Ranchers have a lot of time and money invested in their property. Keep a good relationship with these land owners and don’t be afraid to lend them a hand or report any problems you might see. One day it might benefit you.

Yesterday was one of those times for me. Greg had asked permission from a friend of his to hunt some of his land which was adjacent to some other property we needed access to. We hadn’t hunted it for a few years and were excited to get into some new country we hadn’t seen yet this year. The land owner, who is also a chukar hunter, even passed along some advice as to where to find the birds. Sadly, he was right. Go high.

I might be a chukar hunter, but I still have enough smarts not to let this guys name out. Greg also told me he reads this blog from time to time. So here’s my chance to thank him for a great hunt yesterday. It was as good as I always remembered it.

The hunt was my first trip this year with only Grady and it was filled with camera and shooting action. I got over twenty different pictures of Grady on point as well as some good shooting opportunities.

Some times I even shot straight.

Once again, thank you for the great opportunity

and the fine eating we will be having.